Afternoon all, With 848 NAS standing down today, bringing an end to 37 years of service for the mighty Sea King HC4, I thought I'd share a few images by way of a personal tribute to one of my favourite aircraft of all time. Having lived relatively local to Yeovilton all my life, the Junglie has played a huge part in my interest in aviation, and I'll miss it greatly. All the shots posted have been taken at various locations across the South West, with the final four taken as the aircraft set off on the Monday's farewell tour, the last time I'll see this wonderful machine fly... Westland Sea King HC4 ZD627/WO Royal Navy RNAS Merryfield 08/06/11 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZD627/WO Royal Navy RNAS Merryfield 08/06/11 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZD625/P Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 09/07/11 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF115/WV Royal Navy Okehampton Camp 13/05/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF119/WY Royal Navy Okehampton Camp 13/05/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF115/WV Royal Navy Okehampton Camp 13/05/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF119/WY Royal Navy Okehampton Camp 13/05/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZE426/WX Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 22/06/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZE426/WX Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 22/06/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF115/R Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 22/06/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZE426/WX Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 22/06/12 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZG820/I Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 12/07/13 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF214/L Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 12/07/13 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF214/L Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 12/07/13 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF117/X Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 13/07/13 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZA310/B Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 13/07/13 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF117/X Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 13/07/13 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF117/X Royal Navy Merryfield 25/06/14 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZE427/K Royal Navy Okehampton Camp 10/05/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZE427/K Royal Navy Okehampton Camp 10/05/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF116/WP Royal Navy Okehampton Camp 10/05/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZE427/K Royal Navy Merryfield 10/06/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZE427/K Royal Navy Merryfield 10/06/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF116/WP Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 09/07/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZF116/WP Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 11/07/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZG821/G Royal Navy SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZG821/G Royal Navy SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZA298/Y Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 21/03/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZA298/Y Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 21/03/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZA295/U Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 21/03/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Seaking HC4 ZA298/Y Royal Navy RNAS Yeovilton 21/03/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Farewell, old friend...

Morning all, I've managed to get my first couple of photography trips under my belt for this year having visited Salisbury Plain a couple of times in the last fortnight. Good weather coupled with some interesting catches and a first chance to give my new lens a run out made for an enjoyable couple of visits, although they weren't without their frsutrations, such is the way of SPTA. Firstly, from a couple of Thursdays ago, where I caught my first Lynx 9A and Apache up there, and the Bell in the sun doing USL training. Westland Lynx AH9A ZG918 Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bell 212 AH3 ZK067/B Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland WAH-64D Apache AH1 ZJ193 Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Lynx AH9A ZG918 Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bell 212 AH3 ZK067/B Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland WAH-64D Apache AH1 ZJ193 Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Lynx AH9A ZG918 Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bell 212 AH3 ZK067/B Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland WAH-64D Apache AH1 ZJ193 Army Air Corps SPTA 18/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Last Wednesday I was back up for a far more frustrating day, a confined Merlin being the obvious highlight of the day, and I can't seem to get away from that Bell! AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 ZJ134/S Royal Navy SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 ZJ134/S Royal Navy SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 ZJ134/S Royal Navy SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bell 212 AH3 ZK067/B Army Air Corps SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bell 212 AH3 ZK067/B Army Air Corps SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 ZJ134/S Royal Navy SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 ZJ134/S Royal Navy SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules C4 ZH874 Royal Air Force SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules C5 ZH884 Royal Air Force SPTA 24/02/16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Thanks for looking, hope they were of interest, Cheers, Shaun

Evening all, Last Thursday, I made the trip up to Wiltshire for my first taste of helicopter hunting on Salisbury Plain. Despite the poor weather and relative lack of action, it was an interesting day learning the ins and outs of some of the regularly used training areas, and what we did catch is pretty rare on the plain, so all in all a day very well spent First catch up the day was a Bell 212 in the confines, one of only five the Army operate and the only one that isn't currently in Kenya. Sadly, it was winch training and so didn't lower itself as far into the confines as we'd have liked, and the light was awful, but a fine start nevertheless. Bell 212 ZK067 Army Air Corps SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bell 212 ZK067 Army Air Corps SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Bell 212 ZK067 Army Air Corps SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Next, the real highlight, and a rare sight in the confines, a lovely Junglie! Westland Sea King HC4 ZG821/G Royal Navy SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZG821/G Royal Navy SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZG821/G Royal Navy SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Westland Sea King HC4 ZG821/G Royal Navy SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr As the Junglie departed, we relocated to catch a Chinook at play. The light was once again awful, but it was good to watch the crews having some fun and throwing the thing around like they had stolen it! Interestingly, this is one of the cabs that have recently moved to Benson with 28 Squadron and carries it's new markings on the tail. Boeing Chinook HC4 ZH777 Royal Air Force SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Boeing Chinook HC4 ZH777 Royal Air Force SPTA 12/11/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Not a bad haul for a first timer, and a great experience. Thanks for looking, hopefully they were of interest Cheers Shaun

Morning all,
Spent a thoroughly enjoyable day at Cosby for the Victory Show yesterday. My first time at the event, and I was thoroughly impressed, with plenty to see, do and photograph both in the air and on the ground. After a long journey back to Devon last night, I've not had much time to edit any shots, but couldn't resist processing one of the absolute star of the show for me, and many others it seems. What a stunning aeroplane
Supermarine Seafire LF III PP972/G-BUAR Cosby 06/09/15 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
There will be plenty more of both the aircraft and the re-enactments to follow in due course.
Thanks for looking,
Shaun

Hi All,
I have some large studio lights that work perfectly well but they're relatively fragile old things and putting them together each time is getting tricky so I'd like to replace them with LED lamps. Does anyone out there have any sensibly (i.e. sub £200) priced recommendations for a pair of LED lamps? I've looked at a couple of photographic forums that I belong to but the suggestions there are all for semi-pro kit at a price tag I can't run to, especially when I mainly use them for models anyway. I know there are those little lighting booths out there for pennies but I find them a little too limiting and prefer independent lights with backdrops of my own making.
I've seen lots of pretty cheap stuff on Amazon but it would be nice to know if some of you have real world experience of this kit.
Thanks all and I appreciate you taking a look.
Cheers,
Roger

Hello all,
I'm not a car nut by any stretch, but I do appreciate vintage machinery of all sorts.
This weekend, the technical museum here in Brno has opened the doors to their repository of vintage cars and trucks to the public. Along with the museum's own machinery, a few other preservation groups brought some treats along.
Here's a sampling of what was on hand today:
A Tatra 57 roadster from the late 1930s
A 1951 Triumph Renown
A Praga RND bus from 1949
Skoda 120 S Rally from 1971
A selection of fire trucks built from the Skoda 706 RT series
FGL LF 16 Sachsenring; a 1960s East German design
If you'd like to see more, here's a link to my complete album:
http://imgur.com/a/v7s6f

Afternoon all,
Took a trip to Brize on Saturday for my first outing with the camera this year. Weekends can be a bit hit and miss, and whilst there wasn't as many movements as I'd hoped for, it was a decent day out nonetheless, especially once the sun had come out.
Here's a selection from a Voyager-heavy day, a handful more can be found on my Flickr Photostream for those interested.
Brize_070315_01 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_02 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_03 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_06 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_07 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_09 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_13 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_14 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_16 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_19 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_20 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Brize_070315_21 by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr
Thanks for looking,
Shaun

Hi guys,
A few photos from the show last weekend.. It was a rather good day. I loved the Canberra, totally stunning..!!
In no particular order.
Kestrel 'Harrier' on display at Cosford Air Show 2014. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XZ991 Gr.3 on the Harrier display, RAF Cosford 2014. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
ZD465 - It's great to see this aircraft outside. I painted this airframe during my time at RAF Cottesmore. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Sea Harrier FA2 ZH796 seen on the Harrier display, RAF Cosford Airshow. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Classic Air Force Venom by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Pitts Special by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Vulcan-in-the-Sky... by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
'The Blades' by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Belgium 'Red-Devils' by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Canberra by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Canberra-pass by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XH134 Canberra close up by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Canberra banking. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Canberra 'dirty-pass' by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XH134 Underside on the 'dirty-pass' by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Canberra XH134 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Canberra Head-on by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Canberra Underside by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Wing Walkers.. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Fokker DR.1 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Venom passing by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Venom underside by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Apache display, Cosford Airshow 2014. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XX119 'Spotty Jag' by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Spotty nose on. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Scottish Aviation Bulldog - Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Smokey Vulcan. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XH558 pulls away. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Thanks for looking

Hi gang..
Took this today, I got a new teleconverter for my Sigma 50-500mm, that now makes it 70-700mm (f/8)... It's the older non-OS version too, so it's a bit shakey at 700mm!
I'll keep this thread updated when I can, or when I get a decent 'OTT' shot.. but for now...
VIR44B KLAS > LGW by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Sadly, the quality isn't that great so no reg is readable even on the original..

I have thought of writing a brief note to clarify what types of photographic film in black and white were commonly used in the '30s and '40s, as there seems to be a lot of confusion about the subject: black and white films of the time were basically of three types , although the boundaries between these types were not always entirely clear-cut in practice: - Ordinary or common film ( color-blind ) was sensitive to light in the blue spectrum, violet and ultraviolet, and besides being cheaper, it only required yellow -green or red light in the darkroom. Using this film the red and yellow tones in the final print looked very dark and the clouds of a blue sky tended to become invisible, blending into the background unless a filter was used. - Orthochromatic films themselves, sensitive to the spectra blue, violet, ultraviolet, but also green and yellow in varying degrees depending on the quality and type. These films require dark red light in the development phase and while the yellow tones can be lighter in print than using colour-blind film, their hue varies depending on the quality of the emulsion and the processing, while red tones still appear dark, seen that the film is not sensitive to red light. They were often the preferred choice for portraits because of the good rendering of contrast. - Panchromatic film, sensitive to blue, violet, ultraviolet, green, yellow and red, while translating the colors into shades of gray closer to the experience of the human eye, remained also variable in the results because of its quality, conservation status and the skill of those who developed it, and it required total darkness in the darkroom. This films, however, offered a reduced contrast compared to common and orthochromatic . With all of these kinds of film the use of filters was very common: yellow and amber, in particular, often intended to diminish - with variable results - the effect of ultraviolet light, invisible to the eye but very visible on film, or to correct contrast and brightness of the final result . At the time the use of these filters was an integral part of the art of the photographer, and they were used very often. The above is an extreme simplification of the technology available at the time, and there were in fact emulsions which came "halfway" between the types described, despite being advertised and sold as orthochromatic or panchromatic. The subject would deserve much more research and I am sure I have just scratched the surface of what we could find.
I hope that this may help a better understanding of how difficult – and indeed treacherous – the interpretation of colours from B/W prints can be.
This difficulty also partly affects colour emulsions of the time but I must confess I have not got around to finding out what the exact differences between – say - American and German film were.
Any corrections or additions to what I have written here are very welcome.
Flavio

..and I thought you might like to see
Also If anyone here uses Facebook, I now have a page that I'm slowly filling up too, that can be found HERE
Some tricky conditions and some not-so-tricky, anyway - onto the pics!
87-0023 MC-130P - Brize Norton by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
87-0023 MC-130P - Brize Norton by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XV104 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Head on with a classic. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
N545CC - Kidlington by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
UAE C-17 - Brize Norton by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XV214 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Climbing out from Hanoi. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
9M-AHN taken from ATR-72 RDPL-34174 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
RDPL-34175 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Let-410 RDPL-34158 - Wattay International Airport (Vientiane airport, Laos) by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
HS-PGM by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
5020 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
F-AZJS Supermarine 389 Spitfire PR19 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
M-JACK - Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
A400M - Farnborough 2010 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
A380 marking it's terrority! by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
C-27J by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr

It's that time again people. Though, I'm not fully ready to post all the photos (have been too busy to get some edited) but I will get some up now, get Christmas over with and then some up later. I hope you enjoy them, as much as I love taking them....
Happy Christmas to everyone too! I hope you have a great day/time off.
(First batch of 10...)
B777 1/40th BHX by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Head on VC-10 getting for a departure. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XR808 at Bruntingthorpe by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Swedish Air Force Sabreliner 861 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
XV295 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
MH314 Replica by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
French Air Force - Eurocopter EC725 Caracal - 'SJ' 2789 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
M-EDIA Dassault Falcon 7X by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
F-ZBEH power run by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
MC-130P 66-0215 doing a touch & go at Brize Norton 17/10/13 by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr

Just a select few from my photos, I didn't take that many this year... to busy chatting and generally looking around. Some superb models on display, the Bugatti in the comp blew me away, as it did many, but it did that much I never got a photo! How silly.............
Good to meet Spence for the first time, and meet up with the likes of Andy (General), Tigger, Iain & 32ndSIG lot, RichC, Tom, Flory Models, Ken and sorry if I have forgotten anyone else.
I might get some more up in the week, I have a busy week ahead of me as per usual, so I hope you like this lot for the time being!
In no particular order..
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr
Untitled by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr